Bowler Andy Schnebelt holds lead after first day of match play in the 50th annual Gene Mollitor Memorial Masters

Andy Schnebelt did more than beat his first seven opponents Saturday in match play in the 50th annual Gene Mollitor Memorial Masters at Airport Lanes.

Schnebelt, a right-hander, defeated some self-inflicted pressure he put on himself after averaging 261 six days earlier in qualifying.

"Because those pins didn't carry over (into match play), I put a little more pressure on myself (Saturday)," Schnebelt said after winning seven of eight matches and averaging 234.5 to take a 41-pin lead into today's second round of match play. "If I didn't bowl well, none of that (qualifying) would make a difference."

Schnebelt never reached his 261 average from qualifying for even a game Saturday. He started with 210 and defeated No. 2 seed B.J. Satkowski's 196 to earn the 50-pin bonus for a victory.

From there, Schnebelt ran off six more victories — with three games in the 250s — before facing second-place Jason Overmyer in the eighth and final match of the day. Overmyer, who trailed Schnebelt by 122 going into the match, picked up a 212-191 victory to knock 71 pins off Schnebelt's advantage.

Overmyer, 31, said he did feel a certain sense of urgency for the match.

"I did and I didn't," he said. "The thing about it is there is still a whole day of bowling left, and my goal is to get in the top five."

Match play continues at 10 this morning, with the five-man step-ladder finals scheduled to begin around 1 p.m.

Schnebelt, a three-time Masters champion, has to be considered one of the top contenders — if not the top contender — after averaging 247.8 through 16 games of the tournament. Buzz among the players and fans certainly seems to be leaning that way, but Schnebelt tries not to pay any attention to the talk.

"I do hear it a little bit, but I just try to bowl my game as much as possible," he said. "I know that I'm going to have to bowl well to win my matches."

Overmyer started somewhat slowly and lost his opening match with a 222. He needed strikes in the 10th frames of both his second and third games to win, and he struck both times and then found his range with a 278.

"Striking in the 10th when I needed it really seemed to get me going," said Overmyer, who won his final seven matches after losing the first one and averaged 229.5.

Dan Gennety, the 1992 Masters champion, was 6-2 and is third after averaging 230.5 for the eight games. Satkowski, who went 4-0-1 in his final five matches after losing the first three, averaged 231.75 and is fourth. Brian Sears, whose total pinfall for the day was one shy of Schnebelt, is fifth after averaging 234.5. Sears was just 4-4 in match play after losing his last three.